Restaurant guru retooling Lady Luck, Isle offerings

There’s a whole lot of shakin’ going on at restaurant concepts in The Isle and Lady Luck in Black Hawk.

Why? There’s a new chef sheriff in town, and he’s making his mark by shaking things up at Lady Luck’s Otis & Henry’s Bar and Grill (formerly Station Café), and Farraddays’, The Isle’s fine dining spot.

Gal pal and I recently headed up the hill to catch up with chef Eric Brenner, who consults with several of the parent company’s operations around the country.

“I’m a big fan of taking dishes people like, and putting a little better thought and more quality into them,” Brenner said about his goal at Otis & Henry’s. “I standardize the recipe and make sure cooks are doing the same thing.”

Otis & Henry’s embraces the diner concept with fan favorites such as chicken-fried steak, build-your-own burgers, baked mac-and-cheese, meatloaf, pork ribs and breakfast served all day.

Prices are wallet friendly at an average $9 for a dinner with all the fixins’, $7 for sandwiches with a choice of a side, and $6-$7 breakfast entrees.

He chuckles at the saying “Winner Winner Chicken Dinner” – the name of the half-roast chicken on the menu. “I wonder where I came up with that?” he ponders, scratching at the temple of his full head of bleached blond spiked hair.

“Really?” I ask in disbelief. “You look just like (Food Network star) Guy Fieri, and he says that all the time.”

At Farradday’s in The Isle, a higher-priced steak house, Brenner revamped the menu to make it less pricey and more accessible to gamblers looking for fine dining without spending a good chunk of their gaming budget.

“We’ve retooled that menu so that it would have a little broader appeal,” he says. “It’s no longer an exclusive fine dining place. We brought the price point down heavily, and every entrée comes with a starch and a vegetable (instead of everything a la carte).”

Next up on the chef’s plate: He’s trading in the Tradewinds buffet at The Isle in for an all-burger joint.

“We’re going to have the best burger in Black Hawk,” Brenner says, whose goal is to have that new restaurant in place this month.

“The most common approach to casinos is to have buffets and cheap food,” he says. “I’m really challenging that with great quality at a really good price.”

Fight night. Need to get some pent-up aggressions out? The Isle and Fitzgeralds in Black Hawk are televising UFC fights – the anything-goes mixed martial arts competitions – on a regular basis. The events have proven to be popular.

If mixed martial arts is your thing, mark your calendar for the Feb. 5th Silva vs. Belfort middleweight title bout on pay-per-view that will be broadcast at both The Isle and Fitz.

- Penny Parker is a columnist for The Denver Post. She’s always on the prowl for tidbits and tips from Colorado’s gaming communities. Call her at 303-619-5209 or e-mail pparker@denverpost.com.